Never
by Flower princess11
Summary: Rhonda said that she would NEVER fall for Curly. He's the class freak and she's the fashionista and it would never work out. However, upon seeing some of the couples in her six grade class, one has to wonder just how definite the word "Never" is. My first Rhonda/Curly one shot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.

* * *

 _ **Never**_

 _Hillwood_

It was a typical day at the school of P.S 118 and it's lunch time. Many students were in the cafeteria eating lunch and catching up with their friends before they had to be silenced once again by the burden of class.

In the girl's room of this school, a dark haired girl was in the process of brushing her (regrown) dark hair and looking in the mirror as she did so.

"Finally...perfect...'The girl said as she placed her hair brush back in her handbag and looked at her reflection with pride.

She is Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, the richest girl in her class and PS.118 self proclaim fashion and gossip queen who was getting ready to face her peers by looking fabulous for lunch.

Again...

"Hey Rhonda..."Her best friend Nadine came in... "Hurry up, lunch has already started...'The biracial girl said to her.

"Patience Nadine, one cannot rush beauty..."The rich girl said in her usual way, unaware of her best friend's eye roll.

After about 10 more minutes, Rhonda was satisfied with her appearance and ready for lunch. _FINALLY._

The two girls soon entered the cafeteria and Rhonda came in as if she was modeling on a runway, not that her peers were actually noticing. As the two girls made it to their table and Rhonda pulled out her 5 star catered lunch onto the table and Nadine pulled out her sandwich from her backpack, they began to talk and eat as they normally do at this time.

"Is that baloney, Nadine?...'Rhonda asked with her nose held high.

"Yeah, why?..." Nadine said as she took another bite out of her sandwich.

"You really should consider switching to this cool pescatarian diet, it says here that it's what anyone who's anyone is doing...'Rhonda said as she showed off the information from her smart phone.

"Is that why you are eating sushi again?...'Nadine asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But of course, as the trendiest girl at this school, I have to set an example for the trendy challenged...'Rhonda said while Nadine rolled her eyes.

However Rhonda stopped eating once she noticed the activity happening two tables away, and suffice to say, she was beginning to lose her appetite.

'Another French fry, my sweet..." Arnold said in a dopey voice as he offered the food to his _girlfriend_ Helga.

'Yes please, darling...'Helga _giggled_ as she allowed herself to be fed.

"A grape for my football head..." Helga said as she held out the fruit to feed her boyfriend.

'Don't mind if I do...'Arnold chuckled as his girlfriend fed him the fruit, before both of them continued to playfully feed each other's lunches.

"Ugh...Can't those two see that they are in public...'Rhonda said with her arms crossed, annoyed by the public displays of affection by the two blondes.

Back during fifth grade, she NEVER would have pictured these two as an item. Sure, the origami marriage predictor paired them up but really, It didn't make any sense for it to happen. Helga had been the school bully (though to be fair, she was more bearable to be around now) who targeted Arnold the most and he was the class go to helper who put others before himself.

They had nothing in common, but it appears that opposite attract is more than a saying in this particular case...though Rhonda was still wondering how it could work out...

It had been a few days after the sixth grade started when the whole school discovered the thing between Arnold and Helga, that they had been dating since the trip to San Lorenzo which apparently had brought them together. At first Rhonda had been all over it since at the time, it was the biggest, most shocking piece of school gossip and at the start of the year too, so she naturally had to know everything about it. After some playful teasing and curious questions from their friends, it had eventually died down and everyone had grown to accept it and since it has been three months since sixth grade began and the juiciness of the gossip had long died down and now the topic of Arnold and Helga was well known and thus, no longer interesting.

If anything, Rhonda, for reason she still didn't understand, generally tried to avert her eyes whenever she saw those two act all lovey-dovey in the hall, at recess or in the cafeteria like right now.

"A-Arnold...'Helga giggled again when her boyfriend playfully did the _"walking man_ " with his fingers up her arm, making the blonde girl giggle louder.

Before this whole thing started, Rhonda honestly didn't even know Helga could even giggle at all, she's still the class tomboy but being with Arnold, she's never acted more like a girl...

"Come on Rhonda, it's sweet and we are in six grade now...'Nadine said, not at all bothered by it.

"Surely you jest Nadine, I would _NEVER_ act in such a bold way...'Rhonda scoffed as she kept looking at the class couple who continued acting so sweet that it almost made Rhonda want to barf up what she actually ate of her lunch.

 _"Will those two just get a room already?._.." Rhonda groaned as they continued they're little love fest.

"Well Helga is not you, besides they look happy...'Nadine said with a shrug..

 _'Maybe a little TOO happy.._." Rhonda thought as she tried to look away from Arnold and Helga's mushiness.

However, her eyes soon landed on Gerald and Phoebe who were sharing a soda and she turned away, only to see Harold and Pattie eating lunch together. The dark haired girl sighed and settled for just picking at her sushi but having no desire to eat. She never told anyone about this, not even Nadine but she was kind of jealous of the fact that Helga and Phoebe had boyfriends and she didn't.

She always imagined that if any girl in their class would have a boyfriend, she always assumed she would be the first one, dating the hottest and coolest guy at school. However, she was in sixth grade now and Helga, Phoebe and even _HAROLD_ were seeing someone and Rhonda still was unattached.

She just didn't understand how she could be prettier than them and way more fashionable and yet they were the ones with great boyfriends who treated them like queens and the only boy who was interested in her is the one she would _NEVER_ think about in that way...as in _**NEVER** **EVER** IN A MILLION YEARS_ think about in that kind of way.

"Oh my precious, let your dear Curly feed you, your morsels…" Curly Gammelthorp, class freak appeared as he grabbed Rhonda's chop sticks and held her California roll in front of her, causing the girl to glare.

" _ **UGH**_!...Get away from you, you little freak...'Rhonda shouted as she got up and tried to avoid him.

"Come on sweet cheeks, let your lover boy feed you..." Curly said with that creepy look on his face.

"I already told you that I don't like you and I NEVER will. ." Rhonda shouted and got the attention of their classmates who had been busy with their own thing.

The embarrassed dark haired girl angrily marched out of the cafeteria to get away from her unwanted admirer, with Nadine running behind her to make sure that she was okay. Curly however remained in the cafeteria but he didn't look discouraged. If anything, a large grin come onto his face.

"I love it when my baby plays hard to get..." Curly said before he took a bite out of the discarded sushi.

* * *

 _Later_

 _During recess_

The bell had rung and all of the sixth graders had gone out to the playground to enjoy the brief 45 minutes of fun and exercise. Harold, Sid and Stinky were off pulling pranks of principal Warts, Eugene and Sheena were practicing their interpretive dance, Rhonda was checking her messages in her phone while Nadine was being fascinated by an ant hill and the class couples were once again busy being mushy with each other.

"Oh Phoebe...'Gerald said in a goofy voice as he held out a flower for Phoebe, who lit up when she saw it.

"Oh Gerald...'Phoebe squealed as she took the flower and then kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, making him smile widely, at the act.

" _Those two. .."_ Rhonda thought as she tried to focus on her smart phone.

Gerald and Phoebe might not have been as shocking as Arnold and Helga and they might be a little more conservative but that doesn't me an they can't be mushy either..like right now..

Still Rhonda couldn't help by finding it kind of sweet and not as sickening than the time Arnold picked one of every flower on the playground and gave the blonde girl a mini bouquet, the end result was Helga dragging him someplace and no one saw them again until class time, though the fact that Arnold walked in with a goofy look on his face, messed up hair and a blush on his face gave them some kind of idea of what happened but no one had the nerve to ask with Helga around.

She might be more mellow now and no one wanted to risk undoing that after what she did to Wolfgang after he tried to pick on her and Arnold during the first week of school.

Speaking of Helga. ..

"Higher Arnold...push me higher..." Helga laughed as Arnold continued to push her on the swings.

"Okay, Helga..." Arnold complied as he continued to push Helga on the swing much to her enjoyment.

"What's with her? We are in sixth grade, why are they still hooked on the swings..." Rhonda muttered as she found herself looking at the couple.

She still didn't understand how they could possibly work out, Gerald and a Phoebe were one thing but these two. .

Just how could the two most unlikely of people get together, stay together for months and still look like they are happy?

Rhonda was brought out of these thoughts when an unwanted presence disturbed her...

"Flowers for my precious..." Curly appeared with a flower that still had its dirt cover roots attacked and he held it close, violating her personal space and the dirt landed on her new Italian pumps.

"Uh, Curly! My shoes..." Rhonda shouted in anger.

"Never fear my sweet, I shall clean you up..." Curly said as he pulled out a cloth from his pocket and tried to reach for her feet but Rhonda moved away from him.

"Back away from me you dork!..." Rhonda yelled, while Curly still had that crazy, eager look on his face.

"Come on baby, I just wanted to treat my girl right..." Curly said with his up grin which made Rhonda scream.

"I already told you a million times, I am NOT _your_ girl and I _**NEVER**_ will be..." Rhonda yelled before marching away.

"You can't fight fate baby..." Curly said before laughing before following her.

"Now my precious, please come join me on the swings so I may help you reach for the sky..." Curly said as he took her hand and gave it a kiss.

"I told you to _NEVER_ touch me..." Rhonda shouted as she pulled her hand away from him and glared at him harshly.

"Baby why fight it? You know that we are meant to be.." Curly said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Never...I don't like you and I never will..." Rhonda shouted at the pest.

However, Curly didn't leave as his eager grin suddenly became...interested?

"You know it's funny..." Curly started.

"What's funny? ..." Rhonda demanded, wondering what he's up to now...

"It's just that it wasn't too long ago Helga said the exact same thing to Arnold, and now look at them..." Curly said as he pointed to the couple who were done with the swings and we're just holding hands together on a bench...

"What?..." Rhonda exclaimed in shock, wondering what that had to do with that.

"Arnold, Helga...they used to fight like cats and dogs and now they can't keep their hands off each other...just like another couple that will soon form..." Curly said.

"Back up Curly, just because Arnold and Helga both lost it during the trip in San Lorenzo and ended up falling for each other, doesn't mean I'll let go of my standards and date a lunatic like you..." Rhonda said angrily.

"Sweetie, don't tell me you didn't see it before..." Curly said in an almost laughing kind of a way... "It's obvious that Helga has been nuts about Arnold long before the trip..." The boy said.

"What the heck are you talking about? She HATED him back then and made it clear to everybody..." Rhonda pointed out.

"Honey, while your nativity is cute, you can't honestly believe all that...at our age love and hate go hand in hand together, besides if she actually didn't like him, why did she say out of her way to spend time with him all of the time..." Curly said.

Rhonda was stunned silent by what he said but she didn't believe it. It's not possible that Helga had liked Arnold before the trip and she missed it. She was the school's gossip queen and considered herself a master with relationships from all of the magazines she read...she totally would have noticed something was up...

It still irks her that it took by a few days after school started to learn that the two had been dating. ..

"Sure, it might have taken a while but Arnold came around eventually and look at them now...the soon to be second hottest couple at PS.118 after you and me..." Curly said as he went to sniff her hair again and Rhonda screamed.

"Get away from me you lunatic! Just because Arnold and Helga somehow made it work doesn't mean it changes how I see you as...a creepy freak!...and I will never, never and I mean NEVER EVER like you..." Rhonda shouted.

"Never is a funny word Rhonda, and very few people who use it actually mean it..." Curly said.

Well I DO mean it, that you and I will NEVER be like those two..." Rhonda said before she left angrily.

Curly however, clearly didn't looked discouraged at all as he continued to admire the fuming,retreating girl from afar.

"I'll get her to fall for me eventually...if Helga could wait forever...so can I. .." Curly said as he stared at Rhonda, feeling his little heart beating even as she was out of sight.

He doubted that she even knew about the kind of hold she had over him. About how her shiny dark hair that smelled of her fancy vanilla shampoo made him wild, how her perfect face set his heart afire and how the sound of her voice made him excited when she yelled at him.

He was a goner for her and he knew that someday, he would get her to give him a chance to see that he could be the guy that she deserves. The one that would treat the school's own princess like she queen she deserves to be treated as.

He'll never rest until the day comes that he proved to her just how much he loved her...

* * *

 _Later_

School had let out and everyone was either to get home, go play with friends and some were more interested in going out on dates.

"Finally...I thought the bell would never ring..." Helga said to her boyfriend and her friends Gerald and Phoebe.

It seems they might all be hanging out this afternoon, no doubt on a double date or something.

"You said it Helga..." Arnold said as he happily took her hand in his.

"Now it's time to enjoy 2 hours of the cinematic horror genius of Evil twin: brides of the twins..." Phoebe said in her usual way.

"Come on you guys, I want to get there before the line gets too long..." Gerald said.

The quartet soon left the school, unaware that Rhonda had heard the whole thin since her locker is close by. They really did look like they were excited to see the movie together.

"Those guys..." Rhonda said as she shook her head though a part of her couldn't help but be a little curious.

It must have been a neat experience to be dating, to have a boyfriend who gives you flowers, pushes you on the swing, shares a soda with you and feeds you during lunch and just plain looks at you like you are the most amazing, beautiful girl in the whole wide world.

At least it seems that way from what she's gathered watching Helga and Phoebe with their boyfriends Arnold and Gerald. Every time she sees them together, they look nothing BUT happy together that it could be irritating and fascinating on different days.

Today however, it was a bit of both...

She was about to leave, only to notice an envelope in her locker...

"What's this?..." Rhonda said out loud as she opened it and began to read the contents.

No surprise, it was a love letter from Curly!

" _To my dearest, darling Rhonda. ..the apple of my eye and the angel of my heart...No matter the amount of hate you have towards me now, I promise that some day, I'll get you to give me a chance and get you to let me show you that I can be the kind of guy who would treat you with the kind of love you deserve to be treated with, the guy who can appreciate your great beauty and the one who would never tire of you or take you for granted..that I would be the one to treat you as the queen you were always destined to be and cherish the sweet, beautiful person that I know you are deep inside..."_

" _Some day soon, you'll understand just how crazy I am about you..."_ Rhonda read the last part of the letter in a low voice so no one else would hear it.

However, instead of scoffing or throwing away the note, the dark haired girl ended up reading it once again, unaware that the smallest hint of a smile was beginning to form on her face.

"That guy..." Rhonda said softly as she looked at the note once more and then look to make sure no one was looking at the same time.

The dark haired girl soon left the school in order to make it to her hair appointment and then to her best friends house to study.

However, for reasons she didn't understand and likely never will, she never threw that note away but kept it safe inside her handbag and would read it once again when she was in the privacy of her room.

 ** _The End_**

* * *

 ** _:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)_**


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